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<br />The Steamboat Pilot: Down by the river <br /> <br />000196 <br /> <br />Page 10f2 <br /> <br />The Steamboat Pilot <br /> <br />ARCHIVED STORIES <br /> <br />Down by the river <br /> <br />By Doug Crowl, Staff Reporter <br /> <br />Sunday, June 2, 2002 <br /> <br />STEAMBOAT SPRINGS - There is a buzz going around town about this year's Yampa River Festival. <br /> <br />River levels in Colorado are hurting because of the drought. However, the Yampa River through Steamboat Springs, <br />though running low, is flowing stronger than most. And with at least one river festival hi the state being cancelled <br />because of low water, the buzz is that the 2002 Yampa River Festival could be the best one in Colorado this summer. <br /> <br />That is not news to co-organizer Peter VanDeCarr. <br /> <br />"We have the best river festival every year," he said. <br /> <br />River festivals are part mountarn-.man rendezvous, part camping trip and part athletic event, which reflects the <br />culture of kayaking and paddlers around the state who seek out good water and good times. <br /> <br />People will travel from all around with boats on top of their cars or packed into giant vans to hit the weekend festival, <br />which Includes different competitions and events in the river. <br /> <br />"The philosophy of the (Yampa) river festival Is to have fun for ourselves," VanDeCarr said. "If we have fun, hopefully <br />the visitors will have fun too." <br /> <br />What. has made the Yampa River Festival unique during the 22 years it has been going on is its location .:- right in <br />downtown Steamboat. Many festivals are in more remote areas; Also, no matter what the river level, the Yampa <br />River always can produce enough holes to maintain a good festival. <br /> <br />"The thing Is, our river Is so great. We have so many great hydraulics and this one we just did really caps it off," <br />VanDeCarr said. . <br /> <br />He was refereeing to the D-Hole, next to the Depot on 13th Street. Kayakers play in the hole, surfing its wave and <br />perform various tricks and maneuvers. During the festival, the paddlers compete in the holes by having the tricks <br />judged in an event called the freestyle rodeo. <br /> <br />There are numerous holes on the river that provide challenges, even if the water Is low; the holes are fun to play in. <br />If the river is too low and kayaking seems ridiculous, locals tend to have good time at the Yampa festival anyway. <br /> <br />"There was one year the river was so low, it just turned into a goofy thing," VanDeCarr said. <br /> <br />Local kayaking great Steve Holmes was doing handstands off the rocks, VanDeCarr recalled. <br /> <br />Other competitions in the festival include a traditional slalom race and a down-river race, which is a five-mile race <br />through town. <br /> <br />Though serious races with professional divisions, there's always an element of .Iunacy revolving around river festivals. <br />A good example of that in Steamboat is the biathlon race, which includes an obstacle course through the parking lot <br />near Back Door Sports and then another obstacle course in the river in .pre-selected boats. There's also the crazy <br />river dog competition, where pooches are judged by their stick-fetching skills in the river. <br /> <br />Staffs Exhibit <br />19 <br /> <br />httn :/lwww.ste::Jmho::ltnilot com! sectionJarchive/storvnr!130fif) <br /> <br />.d /') ~ /') () ().d <br />